ABSTRACT
Durham prison has played a significant role in my life which is why I felt it deserved a chapter of its own. It is a unique, poignant yet ironic story because although I was sent to Durham prison as punishment, it would be the place that would rebuild my self-esteem by enabling me to believe in myself. And it is because of this and later experiences in other prisons I always advocate the need for prisons to adopt a working desistance model. Prisons and desistance are something that can work and have to work for the future of our penal system. I remember hearing daunting stories about this mysterious and scary place called Durham prison, but little did I know then that one day I would end up there myself. Durham was where I served my first prison sentence at the age of 20, but apart from being my place of punishment, it was where my hatred for classrooms, education and teachers caused by my school years went full circle.
